⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 6 STARS!

I know giving 6 stars is technically cheating but Sophie Kim’s Fate’s thread series is by far my favourite thing I’ve read this year and it’s been a year with quite a few 5-star reads.

The God and the Gwisin picks up 33 years after the God and the Gumiho left off with Seokga losing hope of finding Hani (now reincarnated as Kisa). Seokga’s fragile mental state has his brother emperor Hwanin more than a little worried, so he decides to take his new reconciled brother on a cruise along the rivers of the underworld on a ship manned by ghosts. It’s all only mildly infuriating Seokga until someone murders Hwanin and now Seokga needs to solve the murder and babysit his newly reincarnated baby (big) brother.

What I loved in particular:
- the continuation of the beautiful and surprising love story from book 1.
- the truly magical world built around Korean folklore.
- the relationship between Seokga and Hwanin was beautiful and filled with redemption of past mistakes for both of them.
- the witty and genuinely funny writing, the Godly Gossip exclusive interview is hilarious

The only negative thing I could say is that I loved Hani as a sidekick for Seokga so much and Kisa didn’t quite fill her shoes for me. But the return of Somi as a reforming serial killer almost made up for it.

Overall I loved this book and the whole series so much I immediately pre-ordered a physical copy because I know this series is a new comfort read that I will revisit over and over again.

I would recommend this book to anyone that loves fairy tales, urban fantasy or a unique and moving love story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for the opportunity to read this ARC.

one day, while you're trapped in the service of an undead cruise, you notice a red string tied to your pinky finger and it leads you to the love of your life who happens to be a hot god but also a huge loser.

if i thought 'the god and the gumiho' was hilarious, then 'the god and the gwisin' is doubly so. the energy of all the characters is so unhinged that i could never tell what was going to happen and i loved every single moment of it. the god of death said purgatory isn't enough, i gotta capitalize and make a vacation cruise for the dead which is hilarious.

seokga has to go through so much pain and growth to get to where he is and it broke my heart at many points. however, i love when a sad pathetic male character goes through it and the comedic beats involved in seokga finding yoo kisa include therapy, reuniting with his brother, and having to vacation on a cruise to relieve stress.

i'd read more about seokga, kisa and friends' shenanigans like a comedy slice of life story.

thank you so much, del rey for the eARC and opportunity to read and review!

Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for giving me this ARC.. I disliked the first book but I’m giving the second one another chance because I love Sophie Kim’s works. Turned out, it was the right call.

(MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST BOOK)
If you survived the first book, unlike the main character, you’ll know we get a new main character in the second one. That being said, I love Kisa compared to Hani. Even tho most of the time Sophie Kim wrote Kisa as if she had never met any smart nerd in real life, I think Kisa is lovely and more relatable as a character. The reincarnation aspect is also well written.

I also like Somi and Hajun. Please don’t fight me on liking Somi, I think her character is well written here after what happened in the first book. Hajun is also lovely. I love his platonic relationship with Kisa… I’m a sucker for platonic F/M relationships, and I will give a plus star if a book has that.

Compared to the first book, I feel like this one is written in a way that uses fewer easily predicted tropes. I listed every romance trope in the first one, and I hated most of them. I have no problem with the storyline in the first book, but I didn’t think it was well executed. I feel more neutral about this one, but I still have a bit of a problem with the ending and the reveal. Some jokes are also funnier here, but don’t quote me because I have bad taste in comedy. I read SS Flatliner and I was like… That’s genius. Anyway, there’s a baby on board… a magical baby.

Other than that, my main complaint is still about Seokga because, oh gosh, he’s still being childish. Imagine being immortal and childish. I don’t think those two words should be put next to each other. I appreciate that he went to therapy and differentiated Kisa from Hani, at least he tried, but that’s not enough for me.

Really great ending. Does a great job of tying things together. The middle was full of mystery and I enjoyed the "who done it" points as well. The character growth was pleasing as well. I loved the brotherly bonding as well as the talks of reincarnation and love rediscovered through it.

This was a fun little fantasy. It was pretty fast past and i like the dynamic between Seogka and Kisa and the whole debate about reincarnation and who he really loves and what that means as well as the whole murder mystery and the twist of the ultimate villain of the book. Overall it was fun and fast read that had strong drama vibes.

'The God and the Gwisin' is the second and final book in the 'Fate's Thread' duology.

The story of the first book leaves things on a most tragic note, and this book also starts in a depressive manner, but things quickly become quirky and funny as the beloved arrogant god takes charge of the plot. I also loved Kisa, much more than Hani, to be honest, as she was more relatable and bookish, and scholarly. I also enjoyed how the author wrapped things up and gave the story the best possible ending!

On the other hand, I found myself struggling to go through the middle part where the investigation was going on, but the final part got things back on track.

I received an ARC of this book, courtesy of Del Rey and NetGalley, and it made my week.

I loved the first book, which was one of my favourite reads for 2024, and cried so hard at the end. I was thus anticipating the follow-up book, and it did not disappoint. The fantasy elements blended so well with the romance, with sprinkles of humour and drama. In short, the perfect Kdrama in book form. Not giving away the ending, but I promise you, you won’t be disappointed.

i loved this so much that i don’t quite know what to do with myself now that i’ve finished this?? as much as i enjoyed the first book, the god and the gwisin far surpasses its predecessor in nearly every aspect and may just be one of my favorite novels of this year. <3

even from the first installment, seokga had always been the star of the show for me; so it was thoroughly enjoyable seeing how much he has grown in this book, from being able to face his vulnerabilities to brotherly bonding, all while still maintaining that certain charm he has that makes him such an endearing character in the first place. not to mention getting to see him be so deliciously down bad for the fmc?? i was so seated and i miss them already :”)

kisa brought a freshness to this book that made the whole story seem less formulaic than the first one was, and i honestly prefer her to hani more because of that. her and seokga’s emotional depth and chemistry felt more mature, natural, and overall just adorably sweet.

this book was genuinely so funny, and sophie kim’s writing is so easy to fall into. the plot brought the perfect balance between seeing old faces and meeting new ones. the mystery, although it took a backseat for the majority of the story, was quite riveting and i found myself completely intrigued by the time we reached the end.

i know this book isn’t even out yet but consider me seated for the next one! (because there better be a book 3 or sophie kim WILL be hearing from me.)

5 stars! thank you to netgalley and random house publishing group for the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for an honest review.

strong romance, great character building, interesting plotting throughout, and the intensity builds quite well. the characters are built excellently, from major ones like Seokga, Somi, and Kisa, to more minor ones like Samsin Halmeoni. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

I cannot say how extremely excited I was to read this Arc; I adored the first in the series, once I saw the arc for The God and the Gwisin I Squealed.
Sophie Kim delivers on a solid follow up to The god and the Gumhio -- picking up a little bit after the first, Seokga is still in mourning and waiting for his Hani to be reincarnated.

The God and the Gwisin is a delightful romance, filled with mythology, fated troupes, yearning, beautiful written fantasy with a perfect woven mystery. I found this book to be even more enjoyable than I had hoped and the thread of fate was seriously a favorite. This would make a wonderful k-drama on an epic level as I would love to see this world come to life.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Author for allowing me to read this Arc in exchange for my honest review!!

"He can feel it, at the end of the thread. Someone is waiting. Someone is waiting for him."

The God and The Gwisin is a spectacular story that continues where The God and the Gumiho left off, where we join Seokga on his journey and embark on yet another wild adventure that Sophie Kim has spun, this time on board a cruise ship!

I really enjoyed the story, it held a different kind of appeal compared to The God and The Gumiho. In this book, we get a nice balance between nostalgia and freshness, with familiar faces as well as new ones joining us on the mystery abord the cruise ship. It is quite interesting to see that in this book, compared to The God and The Gumiho, that Seokga and Hani are more mellowed out, with Hani having reincarnated into Kisa, who is a completely distinct individual with differing personalities from Hani. I really liked that this book filled in some gaps from Book One, allowing us to look closer at Seokga and his relationship with Hwanin, and it was quite surprising to go on this journey of healing with Seokga.

I will say though, that this book may not be for everyone. It does seem to me, that if you wished to stop the story after Book One, you wouldn't be missing out on much. The storyline feels like it is it's own seperate plotline entirely and doesn't necessarily have to be connected to the first. This was more like tying off our loose ends and truly saying goodbye to some characters.
I loved The God and The Gumiho primarily because Seokga and Hani were both spitfires and what I'd deem close to morally grey. That gave the book a fresh appeal, but in this one, it was slightly less exciting to see that they had mellowed out. Of course, Seokga's moral compass remains questionable as always.

Regardless, I had a really fun time reading this book and giggling and also almost crying and I love these characters so much! The ending might hint at a third book possibly? Who knows!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for an early copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

This gets a solid 4 stars from me. This was a pretty enjoyable continuation of the series, though I have to admit I liked the first book a bit more. I was really attached to Hani and Seokga’s relationship, so it took me a while to warm up to Kisa and Seokga’s dynamic. Their relationship is sweet and has its own charm, but it didn’t feel quite as fresh or emotionally layered as what we got in the first book. I did eventually come to appreciate Kisa and Seokga's relationship, but I think the real standout in this one was exploring Seokga's relationship with his family. I also found myself a lot more invested in the side characters this time around.

I will say that the mystery in this one felt more like a backdrop rather than a central driving force. And while it didn’t quite reach the stakes of the previous book, there was still enough to keep me reading (especially in the latter half when everything started to click into place). I just wish we had gotten more of that earlier on.

Overall, I still really enjoyed this book and I’m very invested in finding out where this story goes next. Thank you to Del Rey & Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This sequel worked for me. I was pleasantly surprised that it doesn't feel like an echo of the first book, but a unique story with familiar characters. Seokga has been waiting for Hani's reincarnation, so the romance is a little more of a foregone conclusion this time around. However, the relationship between Seokga and Kisa is unique and heartwarming in its own way. Kisa's character was especially easy to connect to and feel for.

The mystery is somewhat secondary to the relationship building, but overall the plot moved along well despite some reveals being a bit obvious. I wished the events at the end were detailed a bit more, it did feel rushed in the last 10% of the book. It didn't take away too much from my enjoyment of it but did bring it from a 5 to a 4 star read for me.

Overall this was a fun and engaging read despite it's minor flaws.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Del Rey, Random House Worlds, Inklore for approving my request to view this ARC.

This was just as entertaining as the first book and just as funny and warm.

It takes place thirty-three years after the events of The God and The Gumiho and Soekgwa is trying to find Hani's reincarnation and he goes on a ship in the underworld for a vacation and there's a murder mystery involved.

What I loved so much about this is that Kisa, Hani's reincarnation is so much different from her in a lot of ways but just like Hani she's still an interesting main character and I love that she's incredibly intelligent and kind. I enjoyed her development and her relationships with the other characters.

Seokga did have a lot of development in the first book, but he grew a lot here. I believe that there are some decisions he wouldn't have made here that he would have made in the first book. Watching him bond with his brother was also so sweet.

I honestly adore everything about his character and I loved how he slowly came to love Kisa and accept that she's different than Hani and even love her more. Their relationship was sweet, warm and so cute, teared up at the last paragraph of the last chapter.

Honestly, the writing, the plot, and the characters just did it for me.

"In this swoony sequel to The God and the Gumiho, a trickster god must work with his reincarnated lost love to solve his brother's murder on board a luxury underworld cruise ship.

Seokga the No-Longer-Fallen is working on himself. Reinstated as a god, the trickster now attends much-needed therapy, even as he desperately searches for his lost love, Hani. But when the red thread of fate tangled around his finger - signaling Hani's reincarnation - leads Seokga to a luxury cruise down the river of the dead, the woman he finds waiting for him isn't Hani...she's Yoo Kisa, and she has no memory of him.

Yoo Kisa is exhausted with her afterlife. While she'd hoped the underworld would be peaceful, whoever she was in a past life racked up quite the karmic debt, and now she must pay it, working thanklessly aboard the SRC Flatliner. Even worse, the red thread wrapped around her pinky followed her into the underworld...and although her fated partner has found her, he seems to find her lacking.

When the heavenly emperor is murdered aboard the ship, Seokga and Kisa must solve the crime before the cruise ends. As the mystery draws them closer, the god and the gwisin will have to decide what they truly mean to each other. But there's something bigger at play aboard the SRC Flatliner, something that holds the key to Kisa and Seokga's fated connection - and the fate of the mortal and heavenly realms."

I mean, this sounds far out there, but the fact that the cruise ship in hell is called the SRC Flatliner slays me.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!

After what The God and the Gumiho put me through, I needed this ARC because there’s no way I was waiting to find out if my favourite god gets his happy ending.

The God and the Gwisin picks up shortly after book one, with a heartbroken Seokga desperately searching for Hani. He’s so down bad he ends up in therapy—which is kind of hilarious but also refreshing? I love that the author chose to humanise him like that. Even gods need help sometimes.

To get him out of his funk, his brother and therapist convince him to go on a cruise... where, surprise, someone gets murdered. So this turns into Death on the Nile but make it Asian, with gods, spirits, and magical creatures. The vibes? Immaculate.

I loved the plot—it’s quirky, humorous, and feels like a cosy fantasy murder mystery. But as with the first book, the real heart of the story is Seokga and his love interest. Sophie Kim absolutely nails that emotional core again.

If I had one tiny gripe, it’s the occasional tell-don’t-show moments. Sometimes I wanted the writing to let scenes unfold more naturally instead of summarising them. But honestly? That didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment.

Loved this book. Loved the ending. My god is happy. I’m happy.

I feel like I’ve been waiting for book 2 since book 1 came out. I was not disappointed!

“A god and a gwisin. It is an impossible thing. Isn’t it?”

The God and the Gwisin picks up 33 years after The God and the Gumiho. Seokga is no longer banished and repenting - his debt has been paid. He’s still struggling with the loss of Hani, going to therapy, and is living day to day waiting for her to be reincarnated as her brother promised. His luck is looking up when one day he find the red thread of fate latched onto his finger and he knows that Hani has been reborn out there somewhere.

After searching he finds he is becoming more irritable and defeated, in a twist of fate he boards an afterlife cruise and finds her! The catch is she’s already dead and working as a nurse on the boat with no memories of her previous life or the history that she shared with Seokga. She only remembers the life she was living before that fateful fall.

Following the same vein as the first, book two quickly turns into a “Who Done It” murder mystery with the gang having to come back together to stop the big baddies. Kisa is an amazing character who really struggled with the fated-mate thing because she worried that Seokga wasn’t really seeing her, but the Hani that came before. I loved reading how these two found one another and overcame their differences at the end.

With book two we also meet a cast of new and returning characters that make the story feel rich and engaging. Somi makes a return and we are introduced to Hajun - Kisa’s undead bff. We also get an extended introductions to some of the gods and their roles.

And the ending :tears: it was just the absolute sweetest.

Overall this was an amazing read and well worth the wait.

Favorite Quotes:

“…a fight between two gods, a gumiho, and an elderly rubber-duck-loving woman…” - sounded like one of those bar jokes XD

“Try again. Perhaps use some threats. You’re historically very good at that.”

“Kisa, I have wanted you before I even knew you.”

If you read any of my reviews or best of lists last year, you know that The God and The Gumiho was one of my absolute favorites and that I was eagerly awaiting the second book in the series.

I was not disappointed.

In The God and Gwisin, Seokga, is conned into going on a vacation in the underworld with his brother, the heavenly emperor Hwanin, and his therapist. There, he is finally reunited with the reincarnation of his beloved Hani. Except that she isn’t. At all. She’s Kisa, a once-doctor, now medical staffer aboard Yeomra’s SRC Flatliner, the most luxurious cruise ship to sail the underworld. And she’s pretty sick of it. She also has some words for whichever one of her previous lives racked up the karmic debt that has her stuck on the boat (hint: it was Hani).

Sparks do not fly.

Disaster.

And then, Hwanin is murdered and reincarnated, as murdered gods are, in baby form.

Disaster.

And Hwanung, Hwanin’s son and Seokga’s nephew, who is in a rebellious phase and hates his uncle takes the throne. Temporarily.

Disaster.

Great adventure all around, a sweet romance that has a few spicy moments with model consent checking. I like that, despite Kisa and Soekga being tied together by a red thread of fate (that has its own personality and is maybe my third favorite character in the book), their future isn’t a given because there’s fate and there’s choice and while Seokga could compel Kisa, the idea never crosses his mind. He wants her and he falls hard but at no point, despite his reputation or previous actions, does he entertain the notion of tricking her or leading her, even when things between them are at their bumpiest, even when Kisa is actively, physically pulling away. Seokga is honest with Kisa in a way he never was with Hani, open with her in a way he couldn’t be with Hani, and while I don’t want to give everything a way, there’s a theory in the book about this I really liked.

I really loved this one, just for the sake of itself. I loved being in this world again and interacting with these characters. I know it’s supposed to be a duology but there was a little something at the end that has me hoping there might be more. I really, really hope there’s more.

I don't think I have it in me to name a better duology if I tried.

Never, did I EVER, see it possible to love this sequel as much as I adored the first book, but after finishing this I realise what a mistake that was. At the start, I wasn't quite as taken with the plot as I was in the God and the Gumiho, but I believe that part in parcel with the way the last book ended. Due to my love of Hani, I worried about how Sophie Kim would pay this out, but my worry was for nought. After I was able to fully engage, my love for the characters came back and honestly, got brighter, with both returning and new characters to fawn over.

Additionally, from a plot standpoint, the murder mystery aspect of this book was to DIE for (pun somewhat intended). With twists and turns at every corner, I was never fully convinced I knew where the story was going. Sophie Kim has an ornate ability to understand exactly how much to give when writing a hooking plot, something I noticed as well with the first book in this series. You will never not be engaged, trying to narrow down exactly what is happening while also keeping track of every small detail you are given is, as I've found, a very attention-grabbing task in this read. Every detail has an importance, and the having it all rounded to a perfect stop within the last 5-ish percent is one of them most satisfying parts of reading this book.

Don't even get me STARTED on the chemistry between these two! I went into this thinking we'd be following the same mild-ish closed door structure I can remember from last time, but this...was more than that. The spice in this read was simply perfection. Seokga and Kisa compliment each other so well, their scenes together were something I enjoyed reading, and I feel it served to show so much about how well they fit together. I loved Hani, I did, but the ship of thesus debate following the narrative was something I found myself adapting to as well as Seokga, and it served to make me fall in love with Kisa all the more. The ending was something truly heart warming, as so healing compared to how painful book one was (Its a happy ending this time everyone, I promise) and it was exactly what I needed.

Not a day wont go by when I don't love this series, its cast, and its writer, and I couldn't be more grateful to have been chosen as one of its ARC readers. Please, if you do one thing, read this duology, the only regret you will have is not being able to read it for the first time again.

I gotta preface this with this being my first time reading one of Sophie Kim's books, and quite frankly, I enjoyed it. I got an ARC of this book, and I could never be more grateful!!

First of all, it took me a while to grow warm at first, as I didn't expect to be showered with romanized Korean terms in a novel book (we don't speak of fanfics here *ahem*), but looking at those now, it's very interesting to get a glimpse of how Korean mythology works in another person's perspective. Though, I did need to compare them with Norse gods to understand the picture (I'M SORRY OK I GOT BETTER THOUGH 😭).

🚨 Anyway, this is such a feel-good book... in a Persona 5 Royal kind of way. If you know how that game started, there are some implications of it in this book as well. So, just keep that in mind if you're sensitive to implications of suicide. There's also mentions and implications of self-harm. 🚨

TROPES!! Yes, yes. This book is definitely in the Fated Mates category, and if one would squint, it can also be part of the Yearning, Brooding, Dark MMC category, which I really loved—I say squint, only because of their situation... it's complicated. UHM. One Bed? Forced Proximity, perhaps. ALSO OMG, THE DOMESTIC VIBES!!! 😭😭

Something I've also noticed in this book is that it definitely falls under mythology, mystery, action, romance, and fantasy genres; it's 10% action, 80% romance and mystery—as for the rest of the 10%... it's for the side couple. LOL. I love them, though, really. They gave the story a little bit more flavor, to be quite honest.

Another thing: If only they had Kisa during that one scene... this book would have been shorter than it currently is. But that goes to show how good Sophie was with crafting such situations.

Writing style, it's very easy to read. I liked it; it's like reading a Manhwa but in text form (sans sound effects). Lots of attempted "squashing" though. Heh.

Overall, I rated it 4* just because I struggled getting into it for a few chapters, but other than that—IT'S SO GOOD!!

P.S. If you also squint hard enough, you can count this under "fluff"—those moments when the FMC and MMC were together? UGH. I felt like I was a third wheel. 👹